The woman who has worn 1,800 hats in five years

The woman who has worn 1,800 hats in five years

Paisley Robson

Sat, January 3, 2026 at 8:53 PM UTC

2 min read

A woman with grey hair standing on a canal path wearing a knitted hat that resembles an air ambulance. A canal boat is next to her. — Hilary Fleming will mark five years of her hat-based fundraiser on 8 January [BBC]

A woman has worn a different hat every day for the last five years to raise money for charity.

Hilary Fleming, from Wroughton near Swindon, has raised £5,000 for the Wiltshire and Bath Air Ambulance with her colourful challenge.

She was inspired to take on the fundraiser after the charity saved her husband, Shaun, twice, once in 2013 and again in 2014, after he fell off a ladder.

Ms Fleming, who has worn 1,825 different hats so far, said the air ambulance team "got him to hospital quickly and basically saved his life. So as a payback I try and raise money".

Image of a surface completely covered by a variety of hats of all colours and variations including characters like Scooby Doo, in addition to regular sunhats. — Ms Fleming has amassed a large collection of colourful hats [BBC]

Ms Fleming, a retired NHS podiatrist, wears the hats for half-an-hour of what she calls "hatsercise".

Some of the hats have come from friends, other from her husband, and many from donations. Ms Fleming has kept most of them but has also sold some to raise more money.

She said: "If I'm out for a walk and I've got a silly hat, I often get into conversations. I've met so many people who have used the air ambulance who want to tell their story.

"It's raising awareness and also giving people a chance to have a chat and also just have a laugh."

Woman wearing a colourful hat which looks like a dinosaur with boats and sand in the background. — Hilary wears her hats on walks and is often stopped for a chat [BBC]

The air ambulance was called to a record 1,343 incidents last year, with doctors onboard for 51% of those callouts.

To mark five years of her unique fundraiser on 8 January, Ms Fleming hopes to visit the charity's airbase to celebrate.

Amy Noad, marketing and communications manager for the air ambulance charity, said: "Our volunteers play a vital role in keeping the charity running, from supporting us at events, distributing collection tins across the community, to becoming our mascots."

The woman who has worn 1,800 hats in five years

The woman who has worn 1,800 hats in five years

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